High school brawl at West Potomac, Virginia sees student, 16, stabbed

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A violent hallway brawl erupted into a bloody crime scene at a Virginia high school when a teenage boy was brutally stabbed by his fellow classmate.

Chaos broke out at West Potomac High School in Fairfax County on Wednesday morning when a fight between three students took a violent turn, resulting in a 16-year-old boy being stabbed by a 15-year-old student.

The unidentified victim was rushed to hospital for life-threatening injuries, leaving behind a gruesome trail of blood and shaken students in his wake. 

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Escalating fight: A 15-year-old student stabbed his 16-year-old class mate in a bloody brawl at West Potomac High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Wednesday 

The 16-year-old boy's condition has since improved from critical to stable, with the Fairfax County Police Department confirming saying he is now on the road to recovery. 

Speaking to reporters outside the school, Police Chief Kevin Davis said: 'The good news is that the stabber, the perpetrator, the assailant, is in custody.

'It's sad the stabber is 15, but we're working through the circumstances of his involvement and the involvement of others.'

At around 9.40am Wednesday morning, students crowded closely together as a fight broke out between three teenage boys in the hallway, with witnesses quickly pulling out their phones to record the escalating scene.

Disturbing video footage shows the moment the brawl began with a student in a red shirt relentlessly throwing punches a classmate in a black shirt as he crouched against the wall, desperately trying to shield himself from the blows.

Moments later, a third student in a white shirt steps in, seemingly trying to break up the fight.

The high schooler in red immediately took off after his classmate in white, chasing him erratically through the hallway as the boy in black got off the floor and rejoined the fight.

However, the typical teenage brawl turned almost deadly in a matter of seconds when one of the 15-year-old students pulled out a knife and stabbed the boy in the red shirt.

Videos and images taken by witnesses, now circulating across social media, show students and adults gathered around the teenager, who was profusely bleeding on the floor.

Other angles show blood splattered across the floor as the teenage boy laid on his back, nearly motionless, with only the occasional twitch of his hand or a faint cough breaking his stillness.

In one clip, a teacher standing over the bloodied teen began screaming for someone to call an ambulance, while urgently demanding that students put their phones away and stop recording.

Fairfax County officers arrived to the high school within minutes and swiftly took the unidentified 15-year-old suspect into custody on a charge of malicious wounding.

Police confirmed that the stabber and the victim knew each other, and that the knife used in the fight was recovered at the scene.

Addressing concerns: Police Chief Kevin Davis told reporters outside the high school that 'the stabber, the perpetrator, the assailant, is in custody'

Recovered evidence: Police confirmed that the knife used in the fight was recovered at the scene

As for the third teenage boy involved in the fight, Chief Davis stated that investigators were in the process of questioning him.

Davis said: 'A third person who we are questioning, we are not describing him as a person in custody because, at the moment, we don't anticipate any criminal charges on this third person.'

While Davis acknowledged the videos of the fight circulating on social media, he stressed that no other suspects are believed to be involved beyond the student already in custody, describing the attack as an 'isolated incident'.

He said: 'We have the video, just like you have the video, but the video doesn't tell the entire story.'

Official line: Dozens of concerned and horrified parents shouted at Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid during a news conference held shortly after the attack

A swarm of police cars and an ambulance were seen outside the school's perimeter after the incident. 

Fairfax County Public Schools announced that although the building wasn't put on lockdown, no one was permitted to leave or enter the school until told otherwise.

NBC Washington reported a message shared by parent-teacher association: 'West Potomac High School is currently in a Stay Put, Stay Tuned safety protocol following an isolated incident at the school that has been contained.

'We will provide additional information in the next 30 minutes but there is no current threat to the school.' 

Parents began arriving at the school grounds almost immediately after news of the terrifying attack spread, only to be left outraged and frustrated over the district's response.

Dozens of horrified parents shouted at Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid during a news conference shortly after the attack, demanding that their children be allowed to leave the building.

A father, Bill Beal, asked Reid: 'Why can't I check my daughter out? That's all I care about.'

In response, Reid said that school security, in coordination with police officers, were actively working to secure the school before the safety protocol could be lifted and students released.

Reid assured parents that the school was taking steps to ensure ensuring all four lunch periods proceeded 'in a calm, orderly and safe manner'.

In response Beal shouted: 'I don't care about lunch right now!' 

Reid emphasized the importance of students and staff utilizing the counselor service made available to both the kids and staff following the attack, stressing that sending students home after such a traumatic event was not a smart decision.

Reid said: 'While there's a sense, obviously, of shock that this would happen at West Potomac High School, one of our high schools here in Fairfax County, I'm very proud of the response of our staff to this incident.'

Concerned crowd: Parents gathered outside the school and continued to voice their anger to reporters

He continued: 'They responded quickly and admirably and may have saved a life today.' 

However, other parents continued to voice their anger to reporters outside the school, questioning the effectiveness of the school's safety measures and expressing deep concern over whether their children are being effectively protected.

Mother Aellene Hernandez told NBC: 'Are they safe in school? They're not!

'And then I get this second video with the kid on the floor.'

Speaking to the same outlet grandmother Cheryl Brewer said: 'I'm mortified. I just need to see her and take her home.'

Speaking to WTOP News, Beal said: 'At the end of the day, I think that's all these parents want, is to get their kids, hug their kids.

'There's more than one victim in this - people that witnessed it.'

Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell joined in the voices and reiterated the importance of safety in schools through a personal statement, according to WTOP.

New tact: Reid informed parents that she was in the process of rolling out a pilot program dedicated to placing metal detectors inside the county's schools 

Surovell said: 'This hit even closer to home for me as a West Potomac parent whose son was at school today as the incident occurred and whose three other children and two other siblings graduated from West Potomac.

'These students are so close to the end of the school year and for many, a graduation. This time for celebration is now marred by this ugly incident. These kids deserved so much better today.' 

Later in the afternoon, parents were eventually allowed to take their children home a little bit earlier than their usual dismissal time.

Meanwhile, Reid informed parents that the system was in the process of rolling out a pilot program which would see metal detectors installed at the county's schools.

The technology, she said, was placed at another school within the county that very morning, but it hadn't yet been implemented at West Potomac. 

Outside the school Davis addressed a crowd of parents and reporters and said: 'As all of our emotions are running high, we don't want to let the school spill out into this residential community and have skirmishes, fights, altercations and maybe even additional crimes take place. 

'All those considerations are something that we're thinking about, just like you're thinking about, and I'm sorry your children had to endure what they what they had to endure today.'